Once every 10 years, the cosmopolitan city of Goka on the western coastline of Tian Xia hosts the Ruby Phoenix Tournament on an island off the coast. Infamous for its strange spectacles and exciting mix of fighting styles, the contest draws combatants and spectators from all over the world. The tournament’s winning team gets their choice of a single item from the legendary treasury of the long-disappeared Ruby Phoenix, Hao Jin, and earns a reputation beyond imagining.
Having earned a sponsorship and made it through the qualifying exhibitions, your team of warriors is ready to fight in the Grand Pavilion arena against the mightiest combatants and cleverest battle mages on Golarion. In five days, you will know whether you have what it takes to earn the coveted titles of Ruby Phoenix champions. And if not? Well, there's always next decade.
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Welcome! Please go ahead and dot and delete with your alias so that this shows up in your campaign tab! Once we take care of some bookkeeping, we'll get started in Goka before traipsing over to Xielan Islad. You're also welcome to introduce your character in-character here, should you so choose, with an individual scene. Something like final preparations before heading out to Goka, an interaction in the great city, or a representative flasback would all be appropriate tone-setting and set-dressing.
Welcome to Xielan Island, and congratulations on securing one of 64 spots in the thirty-first decennial Ruby Phoenix Tournament!
I will have a slew of questions to get us ready, but I wanted to take a moment for you all to say hi, compare notes, and begin making some determinations about how you might have come together as a team!
Consider thematic niches, common motivations, shared dispositions, sponsors, origins, strengths, weaknesses, and quirks. As promised, I have lists (from the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Player Guide) to facilitate this discussion. But if you have something of your own to advance, then we can begin there before I post the lists.
Once every 10 years, the cosmopolitan city of Goka on the western coastline of Tian Xia hosts the Ruby Phoenix Tournament on an island off the coast. Infamous for its strange spectacles and exciting mix of fighting styles, the contest draws combatants and spectators from all over the world. The tournament’s winning team gets their choice of a single item from the legendary treasury of an ancient spellcaster and earns a reputation beyond imagining.
Having earned a sponsorship and made it through the qualifying exhibitions, your team of warriors is ready to fight in the Grand Pavilion arena against the mightiest combatants and cleverest battle mages on Golarion. Can you prove your mettle in tests of mind and body? Step into the arena to find out!
* * *
Welcome to my recruitment for the Pathfinder 1E Ruby Phoenix Tournament module! I have been enjoying Paizo’s 2E sequel, Fists of the Ruby Phoenix, and wanted to relive the original module. The focus of the module is most certainly on competing in the tournament, but there is plenty more to explore on Xielan Island. Characters will start at 11th level. You should reach 12th level by the end of the tournament.
This is a fighting tournament with rules and judges. You will mostly be fighting other humanoids, though exhibition matches could put you against other creatures and in strange environments. There will also be opportunities for roleplaying and some exploration. If you ever wanted to take on a professional wrestling persona or live your best shonen life, this is the module for it!
I plan to take 4 players through this adventure. Recruitment will run for the next 2 and a half weeks, ending at 11:59pm ET on July 2. I expect that we will complete the adventure by late 2023 or early 2024. If there is interest in continuing the table for additional jaunts, we can discuss that at the end of the module.
Character Creation Summary System: Pathfinder 1E
Level: 11
Ability Scores: 20 point buy
Races: Preference for Core Races plus aasimar, catfolk, grippli, hobgoblin, kitsune, lizardfolk, nagaji, ratfolk, samsaran, tengu, and wayang
Alignment: No restrictions
Class: Any Paizo Skills: Background skills Feats: Non-combat feats at every even level; Combat Stamina free for fighters, brawlers, swashbucklers, and warpriests; No, we’re not using Elephant in the Room feat tax Traits: 2 traits from different categories; no campaign traits
Wealth: 82,000 gp; no single item worth more than 41,000 gp
Hit Points: Max at each level
Languages: No secret languages. In this game, the Common tongue refers to Tien rather than Taldane.
Favored Class Bonuses: You will gain an extra Hit point, an extra Skill point, and your racial favored class option each level.
Background: 2-3 paragraphs. Most important: Why—other than competing for the prize—are you entering the Ruby Phoenix Tournament?
* * *
Resources: I plan to use Roll20 for combat maps. I have a Discord server that will be optional, but which I encourage people to join for table cohesion, notices, etc.
I have three general preferences for this game.
1) I’d like to give priority to people who are not already involved in multiple campaigns.
2) I'd like to give priority to people who have not played the module before.
2) I would prefer not to deal with 3rd party content. I am tentatively open to hearing pitches for certain content on a case-by-case basis.
If you want to try to put together a team here in recruitment, feel free to do so! I make no promises about taking all members of a team, but a well-crafted team could very well influence my decisions!
If making a team with others, consider thematic niches, common motivations, shared dispositions, a particular sponsor, an origin, a strength, a weakness, and a quirk. I have lists (from the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Player Guide) to facilitate this discussion once we have our players, but I’d love to see what you come up with on your own.
Character Creation Details:
Starting Level: 1
Ability Scores: 20-point buy; no starting (i.e., Lv1) scores below 8 or above 18 after racial adjustments.
Races: Since the contest is held in the largest city in Tian Xia, humans of Tian heritage—particularly people of Tian-Shu ethnicity, who predominate most of Tian Xia thanks to the expansionist efforts of the now-defunct Lung Wa Empire—represent most of the entrants to the Ruby Phoenix Tournament. Humanoids of other ancestries more common in Tian Xia, such as kitsune and tengus, also make up a fair share of the competition’s entrants. This pattern is largely due to proximity and convenience; it’s simply easier for fighters from Tian countries to secure travel to Goka. Likewise, stories of worthy Tian fighters have a greater chance of reaching the ears of the tournament’s organizers, which also impacts who receives an invitation to the event.
Other than the core races, the most likely races to appear in the tournament are: aasimar, catfolk, grippli, hobgoblin, kitsune, lizardfolk, nagaji, ratfolk, samsaran, tengu, and wayang.
You may choose any alternate racial traits within your ancestry’s page as listed on AoNPRD.
Explicitly Not Permitted: Adaro, Being of Ib, Drow Noble, Duergar Tyrant, Green Martian, Kasatha, Lashunta, Merfolk, Munavri, Svirfneblin, Triaxian, and Trox.
Alignment: For the most part your character’s moral leanings aren’t crucial for the purposes of the story. Aspiring Ruby Phoenix Champions come to the tournament with all kinds of reputations, agendas, and social attitudes, some benevolent, some malignant. As long as teams don’t break the tournament’s rules, the means by which you overcome your rivals can run the gamut between honorable and chivalrous to underhanded and dastardly. Even chaotic, unrepentantly evil contestants might find a way to put aside their predilections long enough to cooperate with a team for a shot at the championship’s grand prize. Perhaps the unpredictable and violent nature of the fights is enough of a release valve for such competitors.
Classes: Any class or archetype published by Paizo, including unchained.
The Ruby Phoenix Tournament draws contenders from all walks of life, from spell-slinging magic practitioners to sword-wielding knights errant to mercenary-minded scoundrels. That said, some classes of competitor are seen in the ring more often than others. Chief among the most common tournament entrants are, perhaps unsurprisingly, fighters, monks, barbarians, and swashbucklers. All of these martial masters practice close-range mortal combat as a way of life and are expertly suited to fights in the arena. The tournament’s team-on-team format also favors rangers and rogues, who boast numerous talents and specialties that create openings for their teammates or otherwise exploit the chaos typical to the fighting ring. Among the magic-wielding classes, wizards, witches, and other spellcasters who prepare their spells daily (as opposed to tapping into some innate power) have an advantage here. Because of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament’s predictable schedule and frequent opportunities to rest (often an entire night) between bouts, these spellcasters can change their spell repertoire frequently and zero in on just the right selection of spells for the arena
Skills: We will be using Background Skills rules from Pathfinder Unchained.
Feats: At every even level (2, 4, 6, 8, 10) you can take a non-combat feat. These should be feats that have no or minimal impact in typical combat and are instead more for flavor (e.g., not Spell Focus or Spell Penetration). Story feats, skill-based feats, or racial feats are all appropriate for these even-level feats. The exception to the non-combat feats is that you can take any of the performance feats as even-level feats.
Combat Stamina is free for fighters, brawlers, swashbucklers, and warpriests, and available by feat access to everyone else. Similarly, Unchained Rogues gain class access to skill unlocks, which other characters can access by choosing the Signature Skill feat. Psychic classes automatically gain access to occult skill unlocks, which other characters can access by choosing the Psychic Sensitivity feat.
Traits: Choose two traits from different categories other than campaign traits. You may not choose a drawback to gain a third trait.
Wealth: You will start off with 82,000 gp; you may have no single item worth more than 41,000 gp.
Hit Points: Max at each level. (Note: enemies will have max hit points as well.) When you rest overnight, you will naturally heal level + Con hit points.
Languages: No secret languages. In this game, the Common tongue refers to Tien rather than Taldane. If you want to speak both, you need to choose them separately.
Favored Class Bonuses: At each level, you get your race’s unique favored class bonus in addition to both a bonus skill point and a bonus hit point. If your race doesn’t have a favored class bonus, you can choose from either this list (the second batch) or this one.
Player Expectations:
I would like to encourage one substantive post per player per weekday (and one on the weekends), but I understand the realities of life. I care more about quality than quantity or frequency, but I want to keep the story (and game momentum) moving.
Please engage with the scene, the NPCs, and with each other.
Bad wrote:
“Grog nods.”
Why? It’s boring and doesn’t add much to the scene.
Good wrote:
Grog looks at the skeleton now lying splintered and still on the cave floor, and his rage slowly subsides. “Well that was embarrassing,” he says sheepishly, his tall frame shrinking as he hopes that his friends won’t think less of him for getting so angry.”
Why? It’s more appropriate, providing sensory details and adding something that another character can respond to.
* * *
When combat begins, I will roll Initiative for everyone and combat will proceed in block initiative. When your character is up in initiative, you will have 24 hours to post your combat turn. If you don’t post by that point, then I will either have your character delay or (if you have a typical action), I can bot you. I plan to use Roll20 for maps.
I prefer a roleplay-forward style of play. What is your character thinking? What are they feeling? Roleplaying, especially PbP, is a collaborative environment where we are all telling a story together. I would love to be able to tell each character’s story in addition to the overarching narrative. Even though this is a fighting tournament, there are and should be roleplaying opportunities. Work the crowd! Encourage your teammates! Trash talk your opponents! Be larger than life! This is the perfect opportunity to take on a professional wrestling persona or to live your best shonen-inspired life (a la One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, Dragon Ball, Naruto, or Yu Yu Hakusho).
About me as a GM:
I am currently running four tables here on the Paizo boards: two run-throughs of the Price of Immortality trilogy (currently each in the second module), an Iron Gods campaign, and a Rise of the Runelords campaign. I have been roleplaying and GMing for about 25 years with a near-even mixture of in-person and play-by-post.
I like to think of myself as a very roleplay-forward GM with a heavy investment in Golarion's lore. You can find the other four campaigns I'm currently running on the Paizo boards here, here, here, and here. I have a couple narrative samples here, here, here, and here. Some combat samples can be found here, here, and here. You are welcome to check out my profile page for a snapshot and some samples of my non-GM roleplayinng.
I prefer a roleplay-forward style of play, though I enjoy the tactical, combat-oriented parts as well. I will follow my players’ leads and let you explore towns and NPCs as much or little as you want, nudging you back to the rails only if it seems like people are losing interest in the game.
I will try to post at least once per day and will find an optimal schedule so that you can expect to reliably move forward. But my current players can attest that sometimes it takes me more than a few days to craft something worthwhile if I’m being a little obsessive. I will do my best to provide notices ahead of time for work, illness, travel, writer’s block, etc. so that you are not blindsided by a prospective absence or gap.
Application:
Please post a character sheet organized like the typical stat block of a character. I have provided a template in the next spoiler.
You do not need to create an alias unless you want to.
Please provide a sense of your character’s background. You don’t need to have a big, long story. But what are your likes, dislikes, quirks, phobias, etc.? What are your goals? Most importantly—why are you entering the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, other than to compete for the prize? Maybe you need the prize money to pay for a relative’s expensive operation or to free your family from debt to Golden League gangsters. Or maybe there’s a particular prize in Hao Jin’s vault that could literally save your life. Please get creative. 2-3 paragraphs should be sufficient, though you’re welcome to provide more.
You can also write about your character’s appearance and personality, but this is not required.
Character Sheet Template:
I have put a space in front of the formatting text, so you can do a find a replace of all "[ b]" and "[ i]" without the space to quickly fix it.
Almost 200 years ago, when the land that was to become Nirmathas was still a vassal of the empire of Cheliax, the northern reaches of the Fangwood were a wild and untamed place. The crusades that laid low the Whispering Tyrant to the north were a distant memory, and those who remained were intent upon keeping the orcs of Belkzen and the remaining undead from Ustalav in check. As a result, the great forest was full of danger, from marauding orcs to deadly predators, making it unsafe for merchants hoping to trade with the growing community of Skelt in the foothills of the Mindspin Mountains to the west. But there were some keen on wrestling with this danger.
Ekat Kassen was once such person: a crusader and fortune seeker who came to serve Lastwall in the year 4515 AR (Absalom Reckoning). While he fought with distinction, he soon realized that he wanted more from life and left the Lastwall military to find his fortune elsewhere. His travels took him all over the region around Lake Encarthan, and he decided to settle down in 4522 (after a very profitable adventure). Using a sizable portion of his fortune, he set out to tame a small area of the Fangwood on the banks of the Tourondel River. The location made it a natural stopover for those traveling up and down the river to Skelt. For the next 10 years, the town, which was then known as Kassen’s Hold, grew and prospered.
But that all changed when the fire nation attacked a group of ruthless mercenaries began attacking the town. After 2 months of relentless raids, the townsfolk managed to locate the mercenary camp in an ancient crypt deep in the forest. Ekat himself led the expedition to end the mercenary threat once and for all. The battle was terribly bloody, with only a few townsfolk coming back to tell the tale. In the end, Ekat suffered a mortal wound. He died 2 days later, on the 11th day of Neth, 4535. In honor of their beloved founder, the townsfolk buried Kassen in the ancient crypt, interring his bones in a place of honor, along with the townsfolk that lost their lives in the bitter struggle. They placed an eternal flame above Kassen’s final resting place, so that all who visited might find warmth in the wilderness.
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This is the story that you have heard growing up. Every year, the mayor tells it with solemn pomp and circumstance. And most years, the mayor leads an honor guard of important townspeople to the crypt to light a lantern from the Everflame and bring it back to town. It is preserved all winter, a symbol of the town's resilience.
It has been four years since the mayor last decided to send a group of young heroes to the crypt. You may have even known one or two of them. Last year, the mayor's dignitaries included Colbin Vetnar (the woodcutter guildmaster), Holgast (an old sage who lives in a tower at the edge of town), Arnama Lastrid (a skilled ranger with experience fighting Molthune), and Olmira Treesong (an eccentric druid even by druidic standards).
Today is the 3rd of Neth in the year 4709 AR, one day before the 174th anniversary of the day that Ekat Kassen and his men set out from town to protect their brethren from the dread mercenary threat. The winter winds are beginning to blow. This is your year--you know it is. You're just waiting for the official invitation.
Please introduce your character. What are they doing on this normal but highly anticipated day? Are you with your mentor? Your family? Your employer? What are you thinking and feeling?
Almost 200 years ago, when the land that was to become Nirmathas was still a vassal of the empire of Cheliax, the northern reaches of the Fangwood were a wild and untamed place. The crusades that laid low the Whispering Tyrant to the north were a distant memory, and those who remained were intent upon keeping the orcs of Belkzen and the remaining undead from Ustalav in check. As a result, the great forest was full of danger, from marauding orcs to deadly predators, making it unsafe for merchants hoping to trade with the growing community of Skelt in the foothills of the Mindspin Mountains to the west. But there were some keen on wrestling with this danger.
Ekat Kassen was once such person: a crusader and fortune seeker who came to serve Lastwall in the year 4515 AR (Absalom Reckoning). While he fought with distinction, he soon realized that he wanted more from life and left the Lastwall military to find his fortune elsewhere. His travels took him all over the region around Lake Encarthan, and he decided to settle down in 4522 (after a very profitable adventure). Using a sizable portion of his fortune, he set out to tame a small area of the Fangwood on the banks of the Tourondel River. The location made it a natural stopover for those traveling up and down the river to Skelt. For the next 10 years, the town, which was then known as Kassen’s Hold, grew and prospered.
But that all changed when the fire nation attacked a group of ruthless mercenaries began attacking the town. After 2 months of relentless raids, the townsfolk managed to locate the mercenary camp in an ancient crypt deep in the forest. Ekat himself led the expedition to end the mercenary threat once and for all. The battle was terribly bloody, with only a few townsfolk coming back to tell the tale. In the end, Ekat suffered a mortal wound. He died 2 days later, on the 11th day of Neth, 4535. In honor of their beloved founder, the townsfolk buried Kassen in the ancient crypt, interring his bones in a place of honor, along with the townsfolk that lost their lives in the bitter struggle. They placed an eternal flame above Kassen’s final resting place, so that all who visited might find warmth in the wilderness.
---
This is the story that you have heard growing up. Every year, the mayor tells it with solemn pomp and circumstance. And most years, the mayor leads an honor guard of important townspeople to the crypt to light a lantern from the Everflame and bring it back to town. It is preserved all winter, a symbol of the town's resilience.
It has been four years since the mayor last decided to send a group of young heroes to the crypt. You may have even known one or two of them. Last year, the mayor's dignitaries included Colbin Vetnar (the woodcutter guildmaster), Holgast (an old sage who lives in a tower at the edge of town), Arnama Lastrid (a skilled ranger with experience fighting Molthune), and Olmira Treesong (an eccentric druid even by druidic standards).
Today is the 3rd of Neth in the year 4709 AR, one day before the 174th anniversary of the day that Ekat Kassen and his men set out from town to protect their brethren from the dread mercenary threat. The winter winds are beginning to blow. This is your year--you know it is. You're just waiting for the official invitation.
Please introduce your character. What are they doing on this normal but highly anticipated day? Are you with your mentor? Your family? Your employer? What are you thinking and feeling?
Welcome to Khuvaan (Mr Nevets), Median Vargidan (Zanbabe), Silvio Errico (Tazo), and Sledge Potterson (Kazmanaught)! I know that some of you may already know each other, but please feel free to start working out how your characters know each other and making any further adjustments. I am looking forward to the game!
Please dot (post once) in the gameplay thread and then delete that post so that the campaign begins to show up in your campaign tab.
Welcome to Bohrs Kreegan (Cuchulainn), Calaithes (AGM Lemming), Kayle Harrel (SqueezeMeNow), and Nicolette Yardley (SmooshieBanana)! I know that some of you may already know each other, but please feel free to start working out how your characters know each other and making any further adjustments. I am looking forward to the game!
Please dot (post once) in the gameplay thread and then delete that post so that the campaign begins to show up in your campaign tab.
Kassen is a small town on the Touroundel River in the Fangwood of Nirmathas. It is a close-knit community with origins that stretch back 200 years to the year 4522 AR, when the town's founder, Ekat Kassen, grew tired of life as an adventurer and retired there. Kassen and many of the town’s other founders died defending the town from mercenaries in 4535 AR. The survivors placed an eternal flame above Kassen’s final resting place, so that all who visited might find warmth in the wilderness.
Every year, a few of the townsfolk make a ritualistic pilgrimage to the crypt to light a lantern from the eternal flame and bring it back to town, where it is preserved all winter, a symbol of the town’s resilience. Most years, the town mayor and a group of dignitaries perform this “quest”. Every few years, however, a handful of younger townsfolk are given the honor of lighting the lantern. Many see this as a passage into adulthood, a taste of adventure before settling down to work and family.
This year is your year to partake in the Quest for the Everflame.
* * *
Welcome to my recruitment for the Crypt of the Everflame Module! This module is the first in a series called the Price of Immortality, and was actually the first module to use the Pathfinder 1E rule set. I am open to running all three modules if any of the players want to continue after running Crypt..., but a long-term investment is not necessary for applying. Characters will reach 3rd level by the end of this module (and 7th by the end of the Immortality series if we run it all).
If you are not familiar with the module, please do not go and look up anything about it. This includes product reviews, podcasts, or the Pathfinder Wiki. I prefer to run this for people who don’t know what is coming.
The module is designed mostly as a dungeon crawl, but there will be opportunities for roleplaying as well. In fact, I encourage it!
I plan to take 4 players through this adventure. Recruitment will run for the next two weeks, ending at 11:59pm ET on March 13. I expect that we will complete the adventure by the end of 2022.
Character Creation Summary System: Pathfinder 1E
Level: 1
Ability Scores: 20 point buy
Races: Core only
Alignment: Any, within reason
Class: Any Paizo, core preferred
Skills: Background skills; House rules for Linguistics and Heal
Feats: Elephant in the Room; free Story feat; Combat Stamina free for fighters; Signature Skill to access skill unlocks; Psychic Sensitivity to access occult skill unlocks
Traits: Three traits, including one of the following custom campaign traits; can take drawback for a 4th
Wealth: Class average wealth for Level 1
Hit Points: Max at each level
Languages: No secret languages; House rule for using new languages (see below)
Favored Class Bonuses: Hit point, Skill point, and racial favored class option each level
Background: 2-3 paragraphs. You are from the hamlet of Kassen, and are the latest to participate in coming-of-age tradition called the Quest for the Everflame.
Extra: Please link to one previous example of your roleplaying.
Please see this alias or the campaign tab for the most up-to-date recruitment information, in case there are any changes during recruitment.
Character Creation Details:
Starting Level: 1
Ability Scores: 20-point buy; no scores below 8 or above 18 after racial adjustments.
Races: Core only; you may choose any alternate traits within your ancestry’s page as listed on AoNPRD.
Humans are the most prevalent group in the hamlet of Kassen (population 750). Kassen is 93% human, 3% halfling, 2% half-orc, 1% half-elf, and 1% elf. There is also at least one dwarf living in town.
Alignment: No restrictions, but you should 1) be able to work with a team, and 2) have a real interest in completing the town’s coming-of-age tradition. Evil doesn’t mean you’re a mustache-twirling villain. A paladin should not be lawful stupid. And chaotic neutral is not an excuse to do whatever you want. There are two variant systems for alignment in Unchained, and we can explore those if the chosen players are interested.
Classes: Any class or archetype published by Paizo, including unchained; core preferred. No 3rd party. There are prospective mentors for all of the core classes in Kassen, and therefore for the hybrid classes. I’ll try to find an established mentor for you if you really want to choose a different class (e.g. the town wizard is a decent alchemist as well). There are other class adjustments, listed later.
Skills: We will be using Background Skills rules from Pathfinder Unchained with one exception: background skills that are important for one of your class abilities (e.g. Perform for Bards, Craft (alchemy) for Alchemists, etc.) are not considered background skills for you.
Linguistics: You can read, write, speak, and understand any of your racial bonus languages easily (as a native). Languages gained through ranks will go through a process of acquisition requiring Linguistics checks to draw accurate meaning from unfamiliar passages that you are translating. I have always been frustrated by how you can level up and go from not knowing a language to being perfectly fluent, seemingly overnight. This makes it so that the Linguistics skill is actually a skill, not just a way to gain languages.
Heal: I am considering adjustments to Heal like the 2E Medicine skill to make it an actually useful skill for healing. If you have ideas, I'd love to hear them.
Feats: We will be using the most recent version of the Elephant in the Room feat tax house rule set. You may also choose one Story Feat that you qualify for. Combat Stamina is free for fighters, and available by feat access to everyone else. Similarly, Unchained Rogues gain class access to skill unlocks, which other characters can access by choosing the Signature Skill feat (though they won't come into play during this campaign). Psychic classes automatically gain access to occult skill unlocks, which other characters can access by choosing the Psychic Sensitivity feat.
Traits: Choose two traits from different categories, along with one of the following custom campaign traits. You may choose a drawback to gain a fourth trait.
Wealth: You will start off with average wealth for your class at Level 1. You are expected to travel light, carrying only what you absolutely need—weapons, armor, spellbooks, etc.—as rations and other generic equipment will be provided.
Hit Points: Max at each level. (Note: enemies will have max hit points as well.) When you rest overnight, you will heal level + Con hit points.
Languages: No secret languages.
Favored Class Bonuses: At each level, you get your race’s unique favored class bonus in addition to both a bonus skill point and a bonus hit point. If your race doesn’t have a favored class bonus, you can choose from either this list (the second batch) or this one.
I’m open to considering other possible rule changes, but I offer this as a warning. The creatures that you face will benefit from many of the same rule changes that you are (especially feat taxes and max hit points). Be careful what you wish for.
Player Expectations:
I would like to encourage one substantive post per player per weekday (and one on the weekends), but I understand the realities of life. I care more about quality than quantity or frequency, but I want to keep the story (and game momentum) moving.
Please engage with the scene, the NPCs, and with each other.
Bad: “Grog nods.” Why? It’s boring and doesn’t add much to the scene.
Good: “Grog looks at the skeleton now lying splintered and still on the cave floor, and his rage slowly subsides. “Well that was embarrassing,” he says sheepishly, his tall frame shrinking as he hopes that his friends won’t think less of him for getting so angry.” Why? It’s more appropriate, providing sensory details and adding something that another character can respond to.
When combat begins, I will roll Initiative for everyone and combat will proceed in block initiative. When your character is up in initiative, you will have 24 hours to post your combat turn. If you don’t post by that point, then I will either have your character delay or (if you have a typical action), I can bot you. I plan to use Roll20 for maps.
I prefer a roleplay-forward style of play. What is your character thinking? What are they feeling? Roleplaying, especially PbP, is a collaborative environment where we are all telling a story together. I would love to be able to tell each character’s story in addition to the overarching narrative.
About me as a GM:
My first roleplaying experiences were playing and GMing on message boards in the early 2000s. Several of those games lasted for years, so I have a decent (albeit distant) PbP track record. In recent years, I have mostly played in person, where I have GM’d several Pathfinder 1E and 2E adventure paths, modules, and scenarios. I prefer a roleplay-forward style of play, though I enjoy the tactical, combat-oriented parts as well. I will follow my players’ leads and let you explore towns and NPCs as much or little as you want, nudging you back to the rails only if it seems like people are losing interest in the game.
During the pandemic, I have returned to the forums as my primary gaming outlet. I have been wanting to get back into GMing, and a low-level, limited story seems like a good place to begin before I jump into anything bigger. I encourage you to look through my aliases and campaigns to get a sense of my style of writing and play.
I intend to post at least once per day and will find an optimal schedule so that you can expect to reliably move forward. If this will be difficult (due to work, illness, travel, etc.), I will let you know ahead of time so that you are not blindsided by a prospective absence or gap.
After the party has been chosen, I will also run through an RPG Consent Checklist of some sort to make sure that we are all on the same page about expectations.
Class Adjustments:
Beyond the class adjustments listed in version 3 of the Elephant in the Room feat tax documents, I am making the following class adjustments:
* Bloodragers will have Magus cantrips.
* Paladins will have Cleric orisons.
* Rangers will have Druid orisons.
* I am open to Paladins of Neutral Good or Chaotic Good alignments, more similar to the Champions of 2E, without taking an archetype that cripples the class. This will be determined on a case-by-case basis if someone wants to play a champion of a chaotic good, true neutral, or chaotic neutral deity.
* Alchemists and Investigators can prepare any of the ten effects from polypurpose panacea as nostrums, cantrip-level effects. Rather than choosing an effect on the fly, these effects must be chosen individually at the beginning of the day. Alchemists start off knowing all ten polypurpose panacea nostrums, and can prepare them as a magus prepares cantrips (i.e. three at level 1). Alchemists can also prepare chameleon scales, detect magic, detect poison, enhanced diplomacy, and vigor as nostrums. A nostrum is typically inhaled as a standard action, and can be used at will throughout the day, though it only works for the alchemist/investigator unless they possess the Infusion alchemist discovery.
Application:
* Please post a character sheet organized like the typical stat block of a character.
* You do not need to create an alias unless you want to.
* Please link me to one previous example of your roleplaying.
* Please provide a sense of your character’s background. Remember: you’re a level 1 local of a very small town, and this is your first significant adventure without your mentor. If you want to include someone else from town in your story, please let me know what kind of person you’re looking for and I’ll let you know if there is an NPC for you to include. You don’t need to have a big, long story. But what are your likes, dislikes, quirks, phobias, etc.? What have you done to gain the notice of the townspeople? What are your goals? Who are you connected to in town (especially family)? 2-3 paragraphs should be sufficient.
* After I know what class you are applying with, I will send you a brief profile of your mentor from Kassen. After you receive it, please write a short vignette about an example of training with your mentor and post it in the recruitment thread.
* You can also write about your character’s appearance and personality, but this is not required.
As people have questions, I will answer them and then compile them (along with any resulting changes to the recruitment) in both the alias for this recruitment and in the campaign info page.
I am preparing to run the 4th book in the War for the Crown AP, which includes a creature called the Hyaleth, a CR 10 aberration. The entry in the book gives information about advancing the base creature to a Hyaleth Queen by advancing the size from Large to Gargantuan, adding +8 to all of its mental abilities, and adding *at least* 5 HD. I think I have done that fairly well, but I'm trying to figure out 1) if I advanced it correctly, and 2) what the approximate CR of this monstrosity is.
The base creature can be found here, along with the advancement guidelines.
Before even getting to the two feats I could add to the creature, it looks to me like it might be CR 15 or 16 (comparing to other aberrations and looking at the Monster Advancement rules). I don't know if I should post a whole statblock, but here's my summary of what Large --> Gargantuan, adding 5 HD, and advancing its mental scores by 8 each did:
- Str +16 [and +1 at 16 HD] [Str 38]
- Dex -2 [and +1 at 20 HD] [Dex 14]
- Con +8 [Con 26]
- Natural AC +7 [AC 27]
- Base Attack Bonus +3 [BAB +15]
- Base Fort +1 [Fort +16]
- Base Reflex +1 [Reflex +8]
- Base Will +3 [Will +18]
In summary, Initiative +6, Perception +29, AC 27, Touch 9, Flat-Footed 24, HP 250 (20d8+160), Fort 16, Reflex 8, Will 18, BAB +15, CMB +33, CMD +46, Engulf DC 34, Poison DC 28, Sting +26 2d8+14 plus poison & probe intellect, 3 Tentacles +24 2d6+7 plus grab, Str 38, Dex 14, Con 26, Int 20, Wis 22, Cha 19
(I put its new skills in Intimidate and Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, history), while keeping its existing skills at full.)
So I have two questions:
1) Did I advance this creature correctly? I'm most concerned about the size adjustment.
2) What is the CR of this abomination? Am I right in my initial guess of ~15/16?
I'm trying to figure out whether it would even be reasonable to insert this creature into the sewers of Yanmass or if it would unceremoniously murder my players if they tried to attack it. The book already has a built-in CR 13 gargantuan aberration that they aren't *intended* to fight, but if I know my players, once they discover the sewers they'll want to explore. I've grown fond of the hyaleth as a creature and I could see a little diversion for a monster hunter in the party. So I want to make sure that I'm getting this right instead of slapping something together haphazardly. Then, if anyone else is interested, I would be happy to post the full stat block once I finalize it.
